Legal Insurrection readers may recall that some of the editors at the Los Angeles Times resigned after its owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, would not allow the newspaper to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
The lack of such an endorsement was a clear signal that the Harris campaign was having substantial problems, and it was a wise move for a businessman who may have been looking to cut his losses.
And now, it appears Soon-Shiong has thoughts on journalistic credibility, as he revealed the newspaper will soon have a new editorial board.
The owner posted on social media Sunday that he will try to make the Los Angeles Times “balanced.” His announcement followed the newspaper’s editorial board refraining from endorsing a presidential candidate this year despite doing so in the last four elections.“I will work towards making our paper and media fair and balanced so that all voices are heard and we can respectfully exchange every American’s view ..from left to right to the center,” Soon-Shiong wrote on X. “Coming soon. A new Editorial Board.”The owner added that “ALL voices” must be heard when a presidential candidate wins a majority of the vote. Soon-Shiong’s announcement came just days after President-elect Donald Trump was declared by the Associated Press to have defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.
Interestingly, it turned out Soon-Shiong would have the editors would have been able to share their thoughts about Harris, as long as they presented a balance with information about President-elect Donald Trump.
He wrote on X, “The Editorial Board was provided the opportunity to draft a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation.In addition, the Board was asked to provide their understanding of the policies and plans enunciated by the candidates during this campaign and its potential effect on the nation in the next four years. In this way, with this clear and non-partisan information side-by-side, our readers could decide who would be worthy of being President for the next four years.””Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the Editorial Board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision. Please #vote,” the message concluded.
During a recent interview on the Fox News Channel, Soon-Shiong indicated he plans to bring a fair and balanced vision to the entire paper.
One of my concerns is they you understand as a journalist that this is news, and this is opinion. And we’ve conflated news and opinion.So the first thing I want to do is ensure that we explicitly say, “This is news”. And if we say this is news, it should just be the facts. Period.And if it is an opinion, and maybe it is an opinion of the news, that is what I call “a voice”.So now we want voices from more sides to be hear, and we want news to be just the facts.
This development is one of the more positive signs I have seen in restoring news to its original mission of simply supplying information on who, what, when, where, why, and how in oceans of time.
However, some think it may be too little too late.
Soon-Shiong is a true Renaissance Man. He has published over 100 scientific papers and holds more than 500 patents worldwide. He combines medical expertise, scientific innovation, entrepreneurial success, and philanthropic commitment.
If anyone can bring the Los Angeles Times back from the progressive abyss and make it a functioning and successful example of real journalism, it would be him.
I wish Soon-Shiong much success. Our country would benefit greatly from having a more balanced media.
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